Steppenwolf Theatre Company Blog – Chicago Theater, World-Class Ensemble

Producing Sonia Flew is proving to be a unique experience. Because Sonia Flew borrows from the historical record–a history near enough to touch on the experience of contemporary lives–we have had the privilege of presenting the play to some of the folks who are a part of the history. In post show conversations, we have had participants to the conversation who were, themselves, Pedro Pan children. The insight that they are able to bring to the experience of the play and to the ensuing conversation is singular.

What my own participation in those conversations produces in me is a profound recognition of the responsibility and the privilege we have in making theater. Occupying a platform, the agenda for which is providing a reflective space for how we live our lives, is the privilege. The responsibility is to make the portrait of those specific lives authentic–to get the particulars right. The responsibility, artistically, is to make the expression of those authentic lives eloquent–to craft their expression in a way that is meaningful, in a way that transcends the particulars to universal resonance. It is that transcendence of the particulars, in the eloquence, that empathy is possible. On our stages, we offer up lives and experiences and ask our audiences to recognize a commonality in our shared humanity. (more…)

Today I went back to the Anne Frank House and sat inside the rooms of the Annex for a very long time. Just sat.

I decided to get there not at 8:30 so as to be first on line, but at 9:15 so as to go in after the initial rush of early-risers and, this way, neither have to wait on line nor contend with the greater crowds which would start later. Can you believe I spent so much time strategizing about the lines at the Anne Frank House? Anyway, this worked. I did not have to wait on lines, and the House was relatively empty still at this hour.

I’m not sure what, if anything yet, is a new revelation or insight for me today from the time spent here. I just know that I noticed all sorts of new sights and details – mostly stains on the walls, cracks in the kitchen counter-top, the odd angle of the mirror over the bathroom sink, the miniature drawings on Peter’s game board, and so on. (more…)

(Forgive me for not getting this posted sooner. Of course as soon as I returned from my trip abroad, “real life” hit, and much delay ensued.

So, here is what I wrote on Tuesday, Oct. 10th:)

Today we rented bicycles and rode through Amsterdam, attempting to find various locales that Anne inhabited before she went into hiding. There is a great map I found online here which shows a ton of the places Anne traveled in and through during her time here.

We began by trying to find Merwedeplein 37, the apartment building where the Franks lived from 1933-1942. Anne and her family arrived in Amsterdam in 1933 when she was 4 years old, fleeing the rise of the Nazi regime in Germany. Otto Frank believed Amsterdam would provide a safe haven – and he also had contacts and work in the area. The Franks moved into an apartment in a recently constructed complex in the “new” Jewish quarter, Rivierenbuurt, at Merwede Square (in Dutch: Merwedeplein) – which still exists today more or less as it was when it was first built in the early 30s. (more…)

After going to the Anne Frank House this morning, I went next to the Rijksmuseum, which was… under renovation. But thankfully, due to the restoration of the main building, the museum is displaying the “crème de la crème” of its permanent collection in one newly furnished wing and I therefore had the unique opportunity of being able to view all the highlights of the Golden Age in one place! It turned out to be a wonderful way to see the work. And what began for me as a somewhat compulsory visit quickly blossomed into a delightful lesson on the design possibilities for ANNE FRANK. Which I was definitely not expecting. It was great that the Anne Frank House was so immediately fresh in my memory for I’m sure it was this immediacy which provided me with a lens through which to view the artwork at the museum – and lent it a tremendous relevance for me today.

The majority of the art is from the 17th century, a Golden Age for the Netherlands when the power and wealth of the Dutch Republic was at its height. In the Eighty Years’ War (1568-1648 – can you imagine being at war for eighty years?) the Dutch expelled their Spanish rulers and established an independent state. While the country grew rich on trade and shipping, art and culture flourished here. From this time, and in the museum today, are such artists as Rembrandt, Vermeer, Frans Hals, Jan Steen. (more…)

MONDAY, OCTOBER 9

Some days, the most delightful revelations come from the most unexpected places. Today I learned how to “light” the production not from being in the Annex but from - Rembrandt. Makes sense of course, considering Amsterdam was the Dutch master’s home – but who knew. More on that anon.

To start with: my control-freak imperative to be “first on line.” We did indeed get up early and make our way around the corner to the Anne Frank House – only to discover a large group of Japanese tourists, all women, already clustered outside the entrance, having clearly been there awhile. We stood with them in the cold, as a longer line formed behind us and, by the time the House opened, we were…. well, almost first inside. When we entered, the Japanese group paused in the lobby to hear a speech and I said to Niki, “Quick – let’s go upstairs to the Annex and come back to this museum section afterward.” (I had researched enough to know that the complex begins in a building adjacent to the offices and Annex.) We quickly passed through this museum section, the storage and work rooms, and the offices where Otto Frank, Johannes Kleiman and Victor Kugler (condensed into one Mr. Kraler in the play) and Miep Gies and Bep Voskuijl (just Miep in the play) worked at desks – and went up to the Annex itself. (more…)